spacing out while reading a book??

Post Reply New Topic

i notice that sometimes when i read a book that i start spacing out while i'm reading and i keep on reading while i'm completely spaced out, not paying attention to a single word. its like thw words go in one ear, and out the other. and then i have to go back and reread the stuff i "missed".... One time, i read an entire book and when i finished the last page, i realized that i had been spacing out since page 3! i tried to open the book at random places to convince myself that i really was paying attention and maybe i just forgot, but all the characters names and the plot and everything was new to me, as if i never read it before.... but i was turning the pages after i finished each page, so i must have been reading it right? i was laughing so hard after i realized what i did! lol Did this ever happen to any of you? or did u ever hear of such a thing happening?

I used to not be able to comprehend what I read. I think it was mild dyslexia or scotopic sensitivity. Do you have any problems with the page being too bright, skip lines and insert words that aren't there?

I also have moments where my mind wanders away from what I'm reading and I start making up my own story, or start thinking about people.

I can't relate exactly since when i've read a book, even when I space out from time to time i usually get the plot, character names and such. But with me i sometimes have so much on my mind that I can't focus on any one thing, especially reading, so I keep 'spacing out' as you say and eventually give up (especially as of late)

So it might just be a phase. I wouldn't worry too much about it. If the book is so boring that you keep spacing out, don't feel badt throwing it down haha But seriously, i'm sure it's quite common problem

I've totally done that. I can even do it when I read out loud to try to help myself focus. I read and pronounce each word without a word of it soaking in.

It is difficult when I really need to study something

I'm like that and it makes me such a slow reader that I just don't read very much. I think it does relate to dyslexic symptoms but now I would also wonder about hyperlexia.

its not thats its too bright or skipping lines or words, i just space out while im reading all the words and i think about stuff, its different each time....

I do this too. Lately I haven't been reading much, so I've been noticing it while watching tv or listening to music, I'll keep rewinding to hear something, but as it plays back my mind wanders again and I have to rewind, and I space again, rewind, and eventually either force myself to pay attention or just let it go.

Page too bright - occasionally, but I didn't realize what it was until recently. when I was in elementary school my teachers thought I was faking, but when we started reading math books, the light would glare off of the extra white space and I couldn't focus my eyes when I looked at it.

Skipping lines and inserting words - I do this sometimes. I'll insert a word that isn't there, or combine the first half of a word on the line I'm reading with the second half of a word on the next line(or the one after that), or sometimes just accidentally skip to the next line right in the middle.

I've been doing this too. What causes this?

I will sometimes zone out and keep reading the same paragraph over and over without absorbing any of it..

I have bad eyesight, combined with mild dyslexia...so I am naturally a slow reader..and it is easy for me to get sidetracked and put books down for long periods of time.

Conditions have to be just right in order for me to successfully read things. I have alot of frustration, because I really like to read.

I have gone through phases where I was a voracious reader...(like my entire childhood)...but I go through many phases where my concentration is to poor to read anything at all....

yeah i do it during movies too! and that combined with face blindness, people hate watching movies with me......lol they say i keep asking too many questions like... wait what just happened, i wasnt payingattention to that last part, or hey is this guy the main character? (because hes wearing different clothes).....

I will often add words that are not there or interpret a sentence as being completely different from what it is. I also do space out and, although I am reading somthing, I am retaining nothing. Pages aren't too bright, but the colours can contrast in such a way that makes reading more difficult.

I guess your subconscious mind is reading, while you are spaced out. I can have it sometimes, my mind starts wandering while I'm reading. But usually, I get spaced into the book if it's a good fiction, and I stay there to the last page, remember everything. By the way, Stephen King is my favorite author, I never space out reading his books

yeah, this definitely happens to me as well. usually it is related to whatever I'm reading, it'll remind me of something else and I'll ponder that for a while. eventually I'll realize I'm spacing and do a head shake and try to find where I left off.

I also mix up words and context from time to time. Especially if there are other things going in the room I'm reading in. I like to read on my lunch break at work. More often than not other people are in there at the same time watching TV (usually one of silly Judge shows, Divorce Court or Springer )

Nice to know I'm not the only one this happens to. Good thread topic.

Yes, this happens to me, usually when I'm tired or distracted with something. I don't usually continue ahead turning pages though, but rather I just usually read the same page over and over again without understanding it. It also happens when I listen to books on tape while tired- I have to keep taking the tape back over and over for the same spot because I keep spacing out. I think this is pretty normal when people are tired or distracted.

I have also!

If you're in a house with screamin' 2 year olds, constant loud TV (and I mean about 8am-3am), mothers yelling at the kids, dog barkin...the miracle is that I can read at all...

but yeah, I have the same problem, but mainly when there's too much going on in the background...